Ministry of Defence

Islamic State

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many ground troops they estimate would be required to defeat ISIL, and which countries they expect would provide those forces.

Earl Howe: We have not made such an estimate. We recognise that defeating Daesh will take a combination of military measures and political process. In Iraq we will continue to support government and Kurdish forces already rolling back Daesh. In Syria, this means an end to civil war, allowing all those forces committed to a stable, inclusive and unified Syria - including the army of an internationally-supported Syrian government - to fight Daesh together on the ground.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Yemen: Military Intervention

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the statements made by representatives of the UN about breaches of international humanitarian law in Yemen by the Saudi Arabia-led Coalition, and other parties to the fighting, have been reflected in risk assessments for licences for military aircraft, bombs and other equipment issued for sales to Saudi Arabia since their operations began in Yemen in March.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We are aware of reports of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) by the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition. We have received assurances from the Saudi Arabian authorities that they are complying with IHL and we continue to engage with them on those assurances. The Saudi Arabian authorities have their own internal procedures for investigations and we encourage them to be open and transparent in this. We have also raised our concerns with the Houthis on the importance of compliance with IHL and international human rights law.The UK takes its arms export responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. We rigorously examine every application on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria.The Ministry of Defence monitors the reports of alleged IHL violations which informs our overall assessment of IHL compliance in Yemen. We consider a range of evidence from Government sources, foreign governments, the media and international non-governmental organisations. We are also offering advice and training to Saudi Arabia to demonstrate best practice and to help ensure continued compliance with IHL.

Syria: Military Intervention

Lord Tebbit: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether and how the government of President Assad in Syria threatens the national interest of the UK.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: As the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), has said, Assad has been one of Daesh’s most effective recruiting sergeants. His regime’s brutal suppression of the Syrian people, including through the use of chemical weapons, has created the chaos and instability in which Daesh has been able to thrive. Defeating Daesh will require action on a number of fronts including, ultimately, a political transition to a new Syrian government which is able to protect the Syrian people and with whom the international community can partner against Daesh.

Nuclear Weapons

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to vote in the affirmative at the 7 December plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly on (1) Resolution L13 Taking forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations, and (2) Resolution L.37 Humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: At the UN First Committee in November, the UK voted against the Resolutions “L13 Taking forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations” and “L37 Humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons”. As the text of the resolutions has not changed between the First Committee and the General Assembly plenary, we do not anticipate changing our vote.

Ashraf Fayadh

The Earl of Clancarty: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the government of Saudi Arabia in the case of Ashraf Fayadh.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We are aware of, and concerned about, the case of Palestinian national Mr Ashraf Fayadh. We oppose the death penalty in all circumstances and strongly support freedom of expression in every country. We regularly make the Saudi Arabian authorities aware of our views, and will consider suitable opportunities for raising our concerns over this case.

Argentina: Elections

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recent election in Argentina and its implications for British-Argentinian relations.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We made no secret of our desire for a more constructive bilateral relationship with whomever succeeded former President Kirchner. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), has spoken to President Macri to congratulate him on his election win and both leaders – whilst acknowledging our differences – agreed that this was an opportunity to build on the historic ties and shared interests of our people and develop existing trade and investment links.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Small Businesses

Lord Cotter: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking in response to data published by the European Commission in its 2015 Annual Report on European SMEs, which found that access to finance and finding customers are some of the greatest issues faced by SMEs in the EU.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The European Commission’s Annual Report on European SMEs 2014/15 found that, access to finance for SMEs across the EU has decreased in importance with only 13% (down from 15% in 2013) citing it as the most pressing problem in 2014 behind a number of other issues. The UK’s SME Finance Monitor also found that 79% of SME loan and overdraft applications were successful in the 18 months to 2015 Q2, up from 67% in Q4 2013.The Government continues to take steps to improve access to finance. The British Business Bank, for example, is supporting £2.4 billion of finance to over 40,000 smaller businesses, and participating in a further £3.3 billion of finance to small mid-sized businesses, as of the end of June. In addition, the implementation of measures in the Small Business and Employment Act 2015 will require the largest banks to refer customers who have been declined finance to alternative providers via designated platforms.The report also highlights that finding customers remains a problem for SMEs but that this is relatively less problematic than in previous years. We are supporting SMEs by providing advice on a range of issues through Growth Hubs, which join up local resources; the My Business Support Tool which helps businesses find the support they need quickly; and the Business Support Helpline.Government has made public contract opportunities easier to find by making them all accessible on an improved single online portal. The Contracts Finder contains current public sector contracts (above £10,000 in Central Government and £25,000 in the wider public sector) and a forwardpipelineof potential contract opportunities up to 2020.Of the 50,000 plus businesses that make up the customer base of UK Trade & Investment, some 90% are SMEs.UKTI provides tailored help for SMEs, including: working out which markets suit their business; identifying export opportunities; introducing them to key contacts and setting up business meetings; and helping firms exhibit their goods and services at trade fairs.

Apprentices

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the age profile of the total number of apprentices in 2013–14 and 2014–15.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: In the 2013/14 academic year there were 851,500 government funded apprentices. Of these, 185,800 were aged under 19, 308,900 were aged 19-24 and 356,900 were aged over 25.Over the 2014/15 academic year there were 871,800 government funded apprentices. Of these, 194,100 were aged under 19, 315,000 were aged 19-24 and 362,600 were aged over 25.Information on Apprenticeship participation by age in 2013/14 and 2014/15 is published as part of a Statistical First Release:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/learner-participation-outcomes-and-level-of-highest-qualification-held



Statistical First release commentary
(PDF Document, 870.65 KB)

Refrigerators: Safety

Baroness Byford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the safety of chemicals in domestic refrigerators, in the light of recent reports by Which?.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Officials are in regular contact with industry and a range of other stakeholders about the safety of electrical products, including refrigerators. Officials are also regularly in contact with their opposite numbers in other Member States to discuss safety issues. However, no recent specific assessment has been made of the safety of chemicals used in these products.

Productivity

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were the productivity levels in the UK compared with the rest of the G7 in each year since 1990.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The data is available on the ONS website, under the international Comparisons of Productivity section. For your ease, I have provided the table below:Current price GDP per hour worked (UK=100)YearUKG7 exc. UKYearUKG7 exc. UKYearUKG7 exc. UK1990100200010010720101001151991100119200110010820111001141992100116200210010620121001161993100112200310010520131001171994100111200410010520141001201995100111200510010619961001092006100104199710010920071001061998100109200810010719991001112009100110Data are in current prices, allowing cross-country comparison of productivity for each individual year.Source: International Comparisons of Productivity, First Estimates for 2014, ONS (Sep 2015)http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/icp/international-comparisons-of-productivity/2014---first-estimates/stb-icp0915.html* Productivity data for the G7 are unavailable for 1990 due to the absence of comparable data for pre-reunification Germany.

Innovate UK

Lord Allen of Kensington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what key market sectors have been identified for priority assistance by Innovate UK.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Innovate UK consults widely to prioritise technology areas for investment and carefully considers issues such as global market opportunity and UK research excellence and business capability.Innovate UK’s current priority areas are agriculture and food, built environment, digital economy, emerging technologies, enabling technologies, energy, health and care, high value manufacturing, resource efficiency, space applications, transport and urban living. Following the Government’s Spending Review, Innovate UK is considering its strategy for business-led innovation support across the UK’s technology areas for the next Spending Review period, which will be presented to Ministers in spring 2016.

Business: Ethnic Groups

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to commission a review into the obstacles that prevent more people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds from reaching senior positions in business, similar to the Women on Boards review by Lord Davies of Abersoch.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Government believes that businesses benefit from a rich and wide talent pool including people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.Government is fully supportive of the private led Diversity initiative chaired by Sir John Parker who are currently considering this issue. We expect the group to report on their findings in 2016.There are no current plans for Government to commission a separate review into the obstacles that are preventing more people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds from reaching senior positions in the boardroom.

Department for Education

University Technical Colleges

Baroness Redfern: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures University Technical Colleges are taking to increase choices for students, especially with regard to strengthening academic study with practical learning.

Lord Nash: University Technical Colleges (UTCs) specialise in subjects that need modern, technical, industry-standard equipment, such as engineering and digital technologies. Pupils integrate academic study with practical learning, studying core GCSEs within a high-quality technical and professional curriculum. UTCs work with local and national employers and higher education institutions to design and deliver a curriculum that, through technical projects and work experience, will provide pupils with the skills employers demand for their industries. The importance of involving employers in education is a key part of the government’s recently announced plans for ground-breaking reforms to technical and professional education.

Equal Pay

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2015, which found that women are being paid the average wage men earned in 2006.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: New figures released by the Office for National Statistics show that the gender pay gap in the UK remains the lowest on record.There are now also more women on FTSE Boards and running businesses than ever before, and this year the UK was ranked as the best place in Europe for female entrepreneurs.I am proud of our achievements, but recognise there is still more we must do. This is why the government is introducing new regulations that will require larger employers to publish their gender pay gap information. This will encourage companies to take action and drive change on this important issue.

Secondary Education: Isle of Wight

Lord Sharkey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the reasons for the poor performance of Isle of Wight secondary schools, and in particular the level of fixed-term exclusions, as reported in the latest Ofsted Annual Report; and what measures are being taken to increase the rate of improvement in those schools.

Lord Nash: Secondary schools on the Isle of Wight face a range of complex and longstanding challenges similar to those faced by schools in other coastal areas. For example, they face difficulties in recruiting high quality teachers, particularly at senior levels. Inadequate school improvement support provided by the local authority in the past compounded further the difficulties faced by schools on the island.The Department for Education’s latest data (2013/14) shows that the main specific reasons for fixed term exclusions in secondary schools on the Isle of Wight are: persistent disruptive behaviour; verbal abuse/threatening behaviour against an adult; and physical assault against a pupil.This government has acted decisively to improve educational performance on the island. In July 2013 the Department for Education directed the Isle of Wight Council to enter into a five year strategic partnership with Hampshire County Council which has a sound track record of educational performance. Under this arrangement the proportion of pupils achieving five A*-C GCSEs including English and mathematics has increased at two maintained secondary schools since 2014.To help bring talented new teachers onto the island, Teach First has commenced a pilot in three secondary schools on the Isle of Wight which they intend to expand next year.The Regional Schools Commissioner for the South East and South London is working to support and challenge the island’s academies and academy sponsors, particularly the Academies Enterprise Trust, to ensure improvements in their performance continue, and that recent changes in school leadership lead to sustained progress.Fixed-term exclusions in Isle of Wight secondary schools have fallen faster than the national average, from 1,136 (14.1% of the school population) in 2012/13 to 898 (11.8%of the school population) in 2013/14.

Home Office

Visas: Overseas Students

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government where information about higher education institutions found not to be in compliance with Tier 4 licences for non-EU students is published.

Lord Bates: The Tier 4 Register of Sponsors which is available via the link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/register-of-licensed-sponsors-students shows active sponsors.No information is routinely published regarding sponsors found not to be compliant.In January 2015 data was published showing Tier 4 sponsors whose status appeared as revoked from 2010 to 2014. This information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tier-4-sponsors-whose-status-appeared-as-revoked-from-2010-to-2014

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

UK Sport: Qualifications

Lord Moynihan: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators Level 6 Advanced Certificate in Sport Governance and Administration will be a minimum qualification for the staff and board members of UK Sport following its introduction in January 2016.

Lord Moynihan: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether all governing bodies of sport will be eligible for financial support to ensure that their lead employees and senior volunteers with responsibility for implementing or overseeing governance arrangements within their governing boards can sit the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators Level 6 Advanced Certificate in Sport Governance and Administration.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Government expects the highest standards of governance from all our sports bodies in the UK and is working with UK Sport and Sport England to foster this. UK Sport and Sport England set standards that are a condition of funding, covering leadership, governance, financial management and administration, and also provide support and expertise to help national governing bodies to meet them where necessary. The recent triennial review recommended that UK Sport and Sport England should bring together both the governance requirements and the support arrangements for the next funding cycle.Ensuring that those responsible have the right skills is an important aspect of achieving high governance standards.

Sports: Finance

Lord Moynihan: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 on the discretionary spend of local authorities on sport and recreational facilities, and what projections they have made of future years.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Local authorities make their own decisions on how they spend their budgets on sport and other discretionary areas. Many local authorities already understand the value of investing in sport and are best placed to make the right decisions for their communities locally, whilst continuing to be supported by a strong national offer directed by Sport England. Strengthening grassroots sport will be at the heart of our forthcoming new sports strategy.

Sports: Drugs

Lord Moynihan: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action is being taken by the World Anti-Doping Agency in Russia, Argentina, Ukraine, Bolivia, Israel and Andorra, and what assessment they have made of the specific measures, timetable and budget required for determining whether France, Belgium, Greece, Mexico and Spain meet the necessary standards required to send teams to the Olympic Games in Rio.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Compliance Review Committee is set to review responses from Andorra, Argentina, Bolivia, Israel and Ukraine. If they are judged to have taken the necessary corrective action, WADA’s Foundation Board will be in a position to declare those countries compliant. WADA had its first meeting with the Russian National Anti-Doping Organisation on 26 November to discuss the first steps towards Russia achieving compliance in the future. All six countries, currently on WADA’s ‘watch-list’, have until 18 March 2016 to resolve compliance issues, otherwise they will be declared non-compliant.It is then for the International Olympic Committee and the relevant international sporting federation to decide whether a non-compliant anti-doping programme would prevent a country from competing at an Olympic Games.

World Anti-doping Agency

Lord Moynihan: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the reported exchange of emails between the President of the World Anti-Doping Agency and the Russian Anti-Doping Commission, what assessment they have made of whether the composition of World Anti-Doping Agency could lead to conflicts of interest which a reasonable person would consider might jeopardise the independence of the organisation.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: We are supportive of the World Anti-Doping Agency and its governance structure.

UK Anti-doping: British Olympic Association

Lord Moynihan: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 19 November (HL Deb, col 331), whether the investigation into the email exchange between the Chief Executive of the UK Anti-Doping Agency and the Chief Executive of the British Olympic Association is complete, and if so,what action has been taken on the findings.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Viscount Younger's comment referred to the investigation by the World Anti-Doping Agency's Independent Commission into the Sunday Times allegations on blood doping, which remain ongoing -not to the comments made by the Chief Executive of UK Anti-Doping.

Film: Ethnic Groups

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to promote racial diversity in the film industry.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: This Government is committed to promoting diversity in the film industry. We support the British Film Institute's (BFI) newly launched £1 million Diversity Fund, which works to provide professional development opportunities to people from underrepresented groups, as well as funding to organisations that are looking to support diversity projects. The BFI has also recently extended its Diversity Standards to cover all Film Fund Lottery schemes which support film development, production and distribution, and widen access to film in the UK.

Mass Media: Children

Baroness Benjamin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the contribution of children's media from the UK to promoting British culture and principles in the UK and abroad.

Baroness Benjamin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take to address the market failure identified by Ofcom in the provision of UK children's media content.

Baroness Benjamin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to establishing a commissioning fund, independent of the BBC Licence Fee, for UK children's media.

Baroness Benjamin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to encourage commercial broadcasters and content providers to invest in the UK children's audience.

Baroness Benjamin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to ensure that children's media continue to contribute to the social cohesion and cultural development of society.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Government recognises the important contribution children’s television makes to promoting British culture and the UK economy. In April, the Government introduced a new tax relief for children's ‘live action’ television productions to attract inward investment and support our domestic market. We have noted the issues identified by Ofcom and will continue to monitor the sector and consider whether further measures are needed.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice they give local authorities on (1) the minimum desirable frequency of waste collections for (a) recyclates, (b) food waste, and (c) other residual waste, and (2) the criteria that they should use when deciding such frequencies.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: Decisions on collection arrangements and frequency are for each Local Authority to make, taking into account local circumstances including the practicalities, characteristics of the area, providing the service that local residents want, and the need to protect public health and the environment.Defra has funded the Waste and Resources Action Programme to provide advice and support to Local Authorities on good practice for waste and recycling, and to help Local Authorities promote their services more effectively and make them convenient. We are also encouraging greater harmonisation of waste collection and recycling services across different local authority areas.

Food Poverty

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they have made no assessment of the number of people experiencing food insecurity.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: There is no single definition of food insecurity. The factors that impact on household food security are complex. There are multiple indicators such as quality, variety and desirability of diet as well as total intake, not all of which are measured consistently. It is therefore very difficult and potentially misleading to attempt to develop a single classification of food insecurity.Defra publishes statistics annually to show the proportion of household income spent on food by (a) all households and (b) the lowest income 20% of households.The most recent statistics are in the Food Statistics Pocketbook 2015 on the GOV.UK website.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Social Services: Yorkshire and the Humber

Lord Scriven: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made, for each local authority in the Yorkshire and Humber region, of whether the social care budget will meet future demand in the period between 2015 and 2020, in the light of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: No such assessment has been made. It is for local authorities to allocate funding to individual services from their overall budget. In recognition of increasing demand for social services, the Spending Review announced an ambitious plan to integrate health and social care across the country by 2020, and a £3.5 billion package to support local authorities with responsibility for adult social care to meet the needs of their local population. This includes giving councils the additional freedom to introduce a social care precept onto council tax bills, which local authorities in Yorkshire and Humber with responsibility for Adult Social Care services can choose to take up from 2016-17.

Local Government Finance: Yorkshire and the Humber

Lord Scriven: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made, for each local authority in the Yorkshire and Humber region, of the net financial impact of moving to grant reduction and 100 per cent business rate retention as outlined in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015; which local authorities will see (1) a net increase, and (2) a net decrease; and what the increase and decrease will be in each case.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The Government intends to move to 100% business rates retention in England by the end of this Parliament. We have confirmed that, as part of the new system, there will continue to be redistribution of local tax revenue between authorities and protections in place for authorities that see their business rates income fall significantly. Over the coming months we will be working with local government on the details of the scheme.Ahead of final decisions, it is too early to assess what the impact will be on individual areas or authorities but, before the start of the financial year, local authorities in Yorkshire and Humber estimated that their total business rates income for 2015-16 would be £1.9 billion.

Enterprise Zones: Job Creation

Baroness Redfern: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of job opportunities created so far by Enterprise Zones, including how many of those opportunities are full-time, part-time, work experience or apprenticeship opportunities, both within each zone and in the surrounding area.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The job opportunities which Enterprise Zones have attracted are published quarterly on a national and regional performance basis. The most recently published data covers the period up until the end of June 2015 and shows that the 24 Enterprise Zones established since 2012 have already attracted 20,676 jobs and that this number had increased by 9 per cent between March and June 2015.Information on the type of jobs or the number of jobs within individual zones or surrounding areas is not available.

Community Assets

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to make regulations under section 89(3) of the Localism Act 2011.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: Communities across England have used Community Rights to list land and buildings that are important to them as assets of community value; over 2,600 to date. The Government currently has no plans to make regulations under section 89(3).

Devolution: Sheffield

Lord Scriven: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Sheffield City Region Devolution Agreement that has been signed by the leaders and the mayor of four councils in South Yorkshire is final, and whether before signing the signatories were informed that the powers of the mayor for the Sheffield City Region set out in paragraph 4 could be further negotiated.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: All deals are agreed in principle, and are subject to the passage of the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill and relevant secondary legislation. There is a clear understanding – stipulated in the deal document – that discussions will be on-going and that further powers may be devolved in the future, as has been the case with Greater Manchester.

HM Treasury

Infrastructure: Capital Investment

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the current level of spending on infrastructure in the UK, compared to the rest of the G7.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: The National Infrastructure Pipeline outlines over £410 billion of planned investment to the end of the decade and beyond; this includes both public and private investment.At the Spending Review, it was announced that the Government will exceed its commitment to invest £100 billion in infrastructure by 2020-21. It will now make a public investment of £120 billion. (This includes social infrastructure).HM Government does not hold figures on infrastructure spending in other G7 countries, and methodological discrepancies prevent reliable comparison of infrastructure spending.

Department of Health

Social Services: Finance

Lord Scriven: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assumptions they have made about the increase in demand for social care in calculating that the new 2 per cent council tax levy and the £1.5 billion for the Better Care Fund, announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, would meet future demand; and whether they will list the assumptions made and the projected increase in demand for each year from 2015 to 2020.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Spending Review decisions take into account a range of financial and economic factors as well as changes in demand. Our analysis of adult social care demand drew on:‒ academic modelling of future demand for services;‒ projections and data on pay including the National Living Wage from the Office of Budget Responsibility and Skills for Care;‒ gross domestic product deflators for inflation; and‒ consideration of the potential for efficiencies and savings, based on a range of sources.That analysis informed the decision to provide a settlement which means local government has access to the funding it needs to increase social care spending in real terms by the end of the Parliament, including:‒ The social care precept which puts money raising powers into the hands of local areas who understand the need in their area and who are best placed to respond;‒ From 2017-18, social care funds for local government, rising to £1.5 billion by 2019-20, to be included in an improved Better Care Fund; and‒ More than double the funding for the heavily oversubscribed Disabled Facilities Grant to over £500 million per annum by 2019-20.

Prostate Gland: Surgery

Lord Freyberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many NHS England Trusts provide prostate surgery; how many of those track their incontinence rates after prostate surgery; of those hospitals that track outcomes, what is the average rate of post-surgical incontinence; what assessment they have made of whether survey-based research could be used to estimate the incontinence rate of those hospitals that do not track their outcomes; and if so, what is their estimate of the incontinence rate in those hospitals.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The National Prostate Cancer Audit 2014 found that 61 National Health Service trusts in England currently carry out radical prostatectomy, although others may carry out other surgical procedures. Estimates are not collected centrally of the number of patients who experience post-surgical incontinence.According to Quality of Life of Cancer Survivors in England: Report on a pilot survey using Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMS), published by the Department and the NHS in 2012, 44% of prostate cancer patients reported some urinary leakage and this was associated with lower quality of life scores. A copy of the report is attached.Prostate Cancer UK and the Movember Foundation are currently funding a PROMS programme, Life After Prostate Cancer Diagnosis, to assess for the first time the long-term quality of life of prostate cancer survivors, including the proportion who suffer from incontinence and other treatment related consequences.



Quality of Life of Cancer Survivors
(PDF Document, 954.91 KB)

Cancer

Lord Freyberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the performance of the NHS England cancer genetic testing service compared to the French system run by the Institute Nationale du Cancer in terms of equality of access as measured by the percentage of eligible patients who actually receive tests for (1) breast cancer, (2) lung cancer, (3) colorectal cancer, and (4) melanoma.

Lord Freyberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of stage 2b cancer or higher patients in (1) tertiary, and (2) secondary, care centres were tested by NHS England in 2014 for genetic mutations that can confer resistance to targeted cancer therapies, in particular (a) AR amplification mutations, (b) ESR1 activation mutations, (c) PIK3CA mutations, (d) KRAS activation mutations, (e) EGFR amplification and activation mutations, (f) KRAS activation mutations, and (g) EGFR amplification and activation mutations.

Lord Freyberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many business cases were created in NHS England trusts in 2014 that related to the business justification for introducing new tumour genetic tests; when reviewing those business cases, what percentage of trusts allowed drugs budget savings to be included, given that such savings occur outside the underlying NHS tariff; and what is their estimate of the staff hours and costs associated with creating and reviewing such business cases every year in England.

Lord Freyberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the average turnaround time for cancer genetic tests relating to (1) breast cancer, (2) lung cancer, (3) colorectal cancer, and (4) melanoma, measured from biopsy to a discussion of the results with the patient, in (a) tertiary care centres, (b) secondary care centres with in-house testing, and (c) secondary care centres with third-party testing.

Lord Prior of Brampton: NHS England has not, to date, undertaken a direct comparison of the English and French health systems in respect of genetic testing practice for cancer.NHS England does not hold data on the percentage of stage 2b, or higher, cancer patients in secondary and tertiary centres who were genetically tested. Detailed information on the clinical circumstances, or reasons, for referral for genetic testing for individual patients is not currently collated on a national basis.NHS England does not consider business cases from individual National Health Service trusts in relation to the adoption of new genetic tests. Instead, NHS England considers national clinical commissioning policy proposals on the eligibility of a particular test, or treatments to be made available in the presence of particular genetic markers. These are considered and where agreed, funded consistently across England for services falling within NHS England's direct commissioning responsibilities.Examples include the separate policies (published in July 2015) confirming eligibility for Ivacaftor for the treatment of cystic fibrosis in the presence of certain gene mutations, and confirming eligibility for testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations, respectively. Copies of the policies are attached.In addition, the UK Genetic Testing Network currently presents new genetic testing proposals to NHS England for funding consideration based on the conclusions of their assurance programme. These are considered, alongside other new policy proposals, as part of the annual funding prioritisation process, where there is a net annual investment to be made to support their adoption.Information on the average turnaround time for cancer genetic tests is not currently collated, or analysed, nationally. However, NHS England will be undertaking a procurement exercise in the coming months to support the strengthened provision of genetic testing across England. This includes more consistent reporting of activity and other performance indicators, including the timeliness of reporting on receipt on referrals. The supporting national service specification, setting out the standards required of commissioned providers, has been the subject of a recent public consultation.



Cystic Fibrosis Policy
(PDF Document, 347.15 KB)




Ovarian Cancer Policy
(PDF Document, 191.08 KB)

Brain: Injuries

Lord Bradley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will publish a National Framework for the care of (1) children, and (2) adults, who have suffered a severe brain injury and are cared for at home.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Department has no plans to publish a specific National Framework for the care of children or adults who have suffered a severe brain injury.However, there are National Frameworks for continuing care for children and young people (under the age of 18), and for NHS Continuing Healthcare (for individuals aged 18 or over), which support the provision of packages of care for those assessed as eligible to meet needs that have arisen as a result of a disability, accident or illness including severe brain injury. Copies are attached. The diagnosis of a particular disease or condition is not in itself a determinant of eligibility.



Continuing Care for Children and Young People
(PDF Document, 548.06 KB)




NHS Continuing Healthcare
(PDF Document, 883.5 KB)

Health Professions: Training

Lord MacKenzie of Culkein: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions and consultations they held with the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College of Midwives and UNISON before deciding that future nursing and midwifery students should fund themselves through student loans.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Department did not hold any formal discussions or consultations with the highlighted stakeholders prior to the Spending Review announcement.The Government received and considered a broad range of representations from a number of stakeholders during the Spending Review process.Following the Spending Review the Department is absolutely commited to working with key stakeholders in implementing these reforms.

Health Professions: Training

Lord MacKenzie of Culkein: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what research has been conducted into whether clinical teams, mentors and practice educators can support an additional 10,000 nursing and midwifery students while ensuring the quality of their practice placements.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The additional places will include placements in line with existing degrees, to do so there will be no change required to existing statutory regulation or education standards.Delivering suitable high quality placements as now, is part of the universities commitment on delivering an additional 10,000 student places.Education standards will continue to be set United Kingdom-wide by the statutory Nursing and Midwifery Council and Health Care Professionals Council who as part of their approvals process assess the quality of practice placements. Professional bodies are also involved in setting curricula, particularly in the allied health professions and this will continue. It will be for universities to work as part of their local health economy with placement providers to secure extra placements for the additional students.

Health Professions: Training

Lord MacKenzie of Culkein: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what reasons nursing and midwifery students have given for discontinuing their courses in each year since 2010, including financial reasons.

Lord Prior of Brampton: This data is not collected centrally.

Health Professions: Training

Lord MacKenzie of Culkein: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the capped number of nursing and midwifery students in each year since 1999.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The following table shows the number of pre-registration nursing and midwifery places (degree and diploma courses) that were commissioned by year, for the period 2000-01 to 2015-16. Information on planned commissions for the period 1999-2000 is not available.YearNursingMidwifery2000-0119,4601,9832001-0220,6682,0292002-0321,9492,2502003-0423,5532,2852004-0524,9562,4252005-0624,5202,3802006-0722,9642,1702007-0821,5692,1152008-0921,7322,2742009-1021,3372,5372010-1120,3272,4932011-1218,0692,5072012-1317,5462,5782013-1418,0562,5882014-1519,2062,5632015-1620,0332,605 Source: multi professional education and training budget monitoring returnsHealth Education England are the in process of developing commissioning plans for 2016-17. This process will conclude later this month with the publication of the Workforce Plan for England 2016-17.

Nurses: Training

Lord MacKenzie of Culkein: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have considered training nurses in England according to the approach used for trainee paramedics who receive a salary for the work they do while studying for their degree, and if not, why not.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Department has no plans to move to the system proposed. Under the current system student nurses are supernumerary in the workforce during their clinical placements. This was introduced in the 1990s following criticisms, led by the Royal College of Nursing, that the employment model used student nurses as a major part of the workforce which did not effectively contribute to their learning, education and development to become competent registered nurses.

Local HealthWatch

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action can be taken by a local authority or a successful provider when a contractor appointed to enable a local healthwatch to be established and run does not respect the distinction between its role and the local healthwatch organisation being run by that provider.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Local authorities are responsible for making contractual arrangements for local Healthwatch statutory activities to be delivered in their area. As commissioners of the service, we expect local authorities to manage their contracts in order to ensure the local Healthwatch is able to operate effectively.The Local Government Association has published guidance to support local Healthwatch and local commissioners to put in place good governance arrangements, which includes clarity about the roles of all parties involved. A copy has been attached.



LGA Governance toolkit
(PDF Document, 122.95 KB)